Sightless

Mrs. Albright

~ Today ~

"Mom! Let's go, I'm late!" Max screamed from down the hall. I could hear him slinging his backpack on, and I knew that if I didn't get up now he'd be coming down to drag me out the door. My poor little boy is a precocious child, who is obsessed with time. He had always been that way, and he probably would never change. 

"I'm coming, hold on." I called back, pushing up away from the table, and as soon as I was clear from the chair, I felt something rub up against my leg and a cold nose push into my hand. Hendrix, my seeing-eye dog, had been a gift from the state four years ago. He was my second seeing eye dog, the first was given to me when Max was born nine years ago, but I had been her second owner and she was aging when I got her. So when she passed, I was given Hendrix. They were both wonderful dogs, but Hendrix, he was my soul mate. 

I grabbed the handle that was attached to Hendrix's vest, and a moment later he led me down the hall to where I could hear Max still prattling on about his history project that he had to present today. 

"You ready?" I said gently, and when I reached my hand out, he grabbed it and put it on his shoulder. I smiled, and leaned down to give him a hug which he eagerly returned. It didn't last long before he was pulling away and I heard the door open, so he must have darted out into the front lawn. 

"Yeah, let's go mom! You know, there haven't been many people at school recently. The teachers say they all have the flu, but it's a little early for the flu right? And why haven't we gotten our flu shots? Shouldn't we have the flu shots? I don't know if my project is good enough. Yesterday Katie Gibson presented hers on Atlantis, and it was a fish tank with a whole city in it that she had built. It was pretty cool. But I didn't think that Atlantis was real?" He paused to take a breath and I let out a chuckle as Hendrix led me out the door and then left my grip for a moment so he could close it behind us, using the rope tied to the door handle to yank it shut. 

When he came back he led me down the side walk, yipping at me twice to let me know where the steps were, and then we were walking down the driveway to where the bus would be picking Max up. 

"Uh... Mom?" I heard Max whimper, and I froze, turning my head to try and see him, simply on instinct even though I hadn't been able to see anything except darkness for the past twenty years. 

"What's going on? Max?" I asked, and then I heard something run up to me and grab my hand. 

"Mom, there's a lot of people out, and they look... funny. Bad. And they're coming towards us." Max whimpered, his hand clutching my left one so hard it hurt. I didn't answer, instead listening for a moment to try and see what was going on. It was quiet for a long second, and then I heard a growl rip through the air in front of us. 

"What was that?" I asked, as Max's sweaty hand started to try and pull me back towards the house. 

"It was Mrs. Albright, her neck is bleeding, and she just growled at us, and I think we should go back inside mom!" He cried, and I nodded. 

"Hendrix, home. Max go, run." I said sharply, and I could feel him trying to pull me along, and when I tried to yank my hand out of his, his grip tightened. 

"No! I'm not going without you. Hendrix! Let's go!" He sobbed, and Hendrix seemed to understand the urgency since he began pulling particularly hard, and I sped up, practically jogging with them. There were two sharp barks, and I tripped going up the stairs but I didn't fall. I could hear whatever was going on behind us getting closer, and the growls were getting louder. 

"Get the door open Max!" I yelled, and he finally let go of my hand, and yanked the door open. I rushed in after him, and I heard him slam the door behind us and lock it. 

"Let's get the sofa up against the door. Now Max." I said, letting go of Hendrix's lead for the first time in awhile, and used muscle memory to get myself to the sofa. I finally reached the end of it, and ignoring the pounding from the front door, and Hendrix's growls, Max and I shoved the couch up against the front door. 

"I'll close the blinds, go make sure all the doors are locked." I order Max and I heard his feet take off running. I shuffled away from the door, using my hands on the walls to guide me, and after a long five minutes I had closed all the blinds, Max had locked all the doors and put some kind of furniture up against them, and we had both fallen into chairs in the living room. 

"Max? Please turn the TV on to the news channel, maybe they know what's going on." He didn't say anything, but I heard him grab the remote and turn on the TV, but what I heard was horrifying. 

"The CDC has released a warning to all American Citizens. Please, remain indoors and do not come into contact with the infected. We do not yet know how it spreads, beyond the fact that those who are bit or scratched by the infected become very ill, and turn into whatever this thing is. The infected seem to lose their mind, and develop a craving for raw flesh, as that seems to be the only thing they are interested in eating. If you see an infected, do not engage. They seem to not remember who they are, or more importantly, who you are to them as we have several reports of infected attacking their loved ones. And as you can see from this footage of this infected man attacking policemen, bullets to the heart, lungs, or any other vital organs beyond the brain have no affect on them. Please, be safe and stay away from them. This is the last broadcast we will be having until after this situation is controlled. If your home is unaccessible, the military is opening refugee camps in Capitol Cities, please, make your way to one if you must. Be safe, and God Bless." And then there was nothing but static. 

"Mom? What do we do?" Max said after several minutes of listening to static. 

"We have to... we have to go to the refugee center... pack your bags. We leave as soon as you're done." I heard him stand up, and then he paused. 

"How are we going to get there? You can't drive." He whispered, like it was a secret, and I felt the grimace my face but it wasn't one I could control. 

"You're going to have to drive us Max. Don't worry... we'll be okay." 

I hope.